Plant for producing and fitting together flaskless casting moulds

ABSTRACT

A face-plate of a turning mill table fitted with a drive for a stepwise circular motion of the face-plate mounts secured on it frames intended for pressing. As the face-plate revolves each frame is successively conveyed first to a mechanism for compacting a mould-forming material and then to a pusher which serves to eject the completed moulds onto a conveyor where they are piled horizontally. In delivering the frames from the compacting mechanism to the pusher the face-plate together with the frames revolves for at least three steps by which virtue two intermediate mould positions or stations can be used for core setting into the moulds.

United States Patent Popov et a1. Apr. 9, 1974 PLANT FOR PRODUCING AND FITTING 3,447,589 6/1969 Planten 164/137 OG FLASKLESS CASTING (F3e11ows eor en MOULDS 3,008.199 11/1961 Jeppe son 164/22 [76] Inventors; Alexei lvanovich Popov, ulitsa 3,147,519 9/ 1964 Hilliard 164/165 plitochnaya 2 kv Vladimir 3,181,207 Schiable... 164/137 5222222 24:22; viiiiii zz ffiig g ii b d gg gi 3,424,229 1/ 1969 Gunnergaard-P0ulsen...., 164/137 X 9 zemo aya 6/6 kv. 57; Vladimir 3,517,728 6/1970 Taccone 164/255 Ovseevich Kashket, ulitsa 23 avgusta, Nikolai Primary ExaminerJ. Spencer Overholser lvanovich Sedov, Prospekt Assistant Examiner-John S. Brown OYdZhOnikidZe, kv. Boris Attorney, Agent, or Firml-Iolman & Stern Petrovich Kovalenko, ulitsa suschenskaya, 1 17; Boris Petrovich Kulikov, saltovka, 602 midroraion, 50, kv. 155; Boris Ivanovich [57] ABSTRACT Fedyanin, ulitsa scherbakova, 69, all I of Kharkov, USSR A face-plate of a tummg mill table fitted with a drive for a stepwise circular motion of the face-plate mounts 1 Flledl 1972 secured on it frames intended for pressing. As the [21] APPL NOJ 236,900 face-plate revolves each frame is successively conveyed first to a mechanism for compacting a mouldforming material and then to a pusher which serves to [52] US. Cl. 164/180, 164/137 eject the completed moulds onto a conveyor where [51] Int. Cl. B22c 17/00 they are piled horizontally. In delivering the frames Field of Search 164/22 27, 137, 0 from the compacting mechanism to the pusher the 164/186 4O, 210, 178, face-plate together with the frames revolves for at 328 least three steps by which virtue two intermediate mould positions or stations can be used for core set- [56] References Cited ting into the moulds UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,077,014 2/1963 Jennings 164/22 X 2 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to refinement of moulding machines which find use in foundry practice and more particularly to plants for producing and fitting together casting moulds; it is especially adaptable to the production of casting moulds having a number of cores.

Known in the prior art is a plant for producing and assembling flaskless casting moulds comprising a fixed frame wherein pattern plates perform the squeezing or pressing of a mould-forming material fed by a sandblowing device into a cavity formed by the frame and pattern plates.

The pattern plates are connected to the piston rods of hydraulic cylinders providing a requisite pressing force. During backward movement of the pattern plates the patterns are withdrawn whereupon a completed mould is pushed from the frame onto a conveyor so that all subsequent completed moulds handled one by one are pushed into intimate contact with each other.

On being pressed between the two pattern plates the completed mould carries two impressions on its opposing surfaces strictly corresponding in configuration .to the patterns.

When mounted on the conveyor one of the surfaces butts against a previously formed mould while the other one remains open until the next mould is ready and pushed onto the conveyor.

The length of time between the arrival at the conveyor of two adjacent moulds is employed for core insertion which is done from the open surface side.

In this prior known plant, rated at 240 moulds per hour, the core setting time amounts to 8-10 see. which is insufficient for moulds requiring a great number of cores. Cores insertion during a larger operating time cycle causes systematic standstills and reduces the total productivity of the plant.

Also known is another setup for producing and fitting together flaskless casting moulds with higher inherent output. It incorporates two frames secured to a carrier which performs a reciprocating motion. Each frame is thereby alternately placed in a position where it is fed with a mould-forming material and in which mould pressing is accomplished whereupon the frame together with the completed mould is delivered to one of two positions or stations from which the moulds are pushed to conveyors.

Peculiar to this setup is a higher production rate which ensues from the fact that within each production time cycle, while one mould has reached the pressing position or station, the other one is at the push-out station with both operations being performed simultaneously. Meanwhile at the second (push-out) station the cores are introduced into the mould placed on the conveyor during the proceding cycle.

On this machine characterized by a higher up to production rate up to 600 moulds per hour the core setformed mould has been placed on a conveyor. These disadvantages restrict the plant productivity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to boost production rate of plants producing and assembling flaskless casting moulds with a large number of cores by increasing the ratio between the admissible core setting time and mould production cycle time.

The specified and other objects are achieved by the fact that in a proposed plant for producing and fitting together flaskless casting moulds incorporating frames and a carrier whose function is to convey the frames to a mechanism for compacting a mould-forming material for the purpose of obtaining a completed mould and to a pusher which serves to eject the formed mould for fitting together on a conveyor where a string of moulds following one by one adjacent to and in intimate contact with each other is formed, conforming to this invention, the frame carrier is a turning mill table with a drive ensuring a stepwise circular motion of a table face-plate having frames secured thereto which revolves together with the frames for at least three steps in delivering the frames from the compacting mechanism to the pusher which acts along the axis of movement of the conveyor.

By using a turning mill table as a frame carrier a production rate of up to 600 moulds per hour is attained with the core setting'time exceeding 12 see. which is attributable to at least two stations or positions employed for the insertion of cores.

To enable the removal of rejected moulds from the frames it is expedient to provide the plant with an extra pusher mounted at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor.

The extra pusher promotes automation of the mould pouring process effected on the conveyor since with the above arrangement pouring doesnot need to be interrupted if a defective mould appears on the conveyor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The nature of the present invention will become more fully apparent from a consideration of the following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof considered with due reference to the appended drawing which shows a plant for producing and fitting together flaskless casting moulds according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In a plant for producing and fitting together flaskless casting moulds frames 1 are secured on face-plate 2 of turning mill table 3 fitted with drive 4 for a stepwise circular motion of the face-plate. Mounted on one side of the table is a compacting mechanism which incorporates pattern plates 5 attached to rods 6 of hydraulic cylinders 7 and sand-blowing container 8 with sand gate 9 whose purpose is to provide the supply of a mould-forming material into the frame.

Arranged at the diametrically opposite end of table 3 is conveyor 10 whose longitudinal axis coincides with the direction of movement of plate 11 of a pusher for completed moulds with the plate being shifted by hydraulic cylinder 12 so that completed moulds 13 are piled horizontally on the conveyor.

Table drive may be provided by a Maltese-type mechanism or a ratchet gear with a hydraulic cylinder which each time on being engaged compels the turning of face-plate 2 by one step, i.e. in such a manner that each frame is shifted to the following station or positron.

Extra pusher 14 intended for removing faulty moulds from the frames is set up at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor (in the drawing the angle corresponds to a single step of the table drive).

The plant functions as follows.

When in their initial position the pattern plates are brought apart to a distance exceeding the width of frame 1.

As drive 4 is actuated face-plate 2 is revolved for one step and one of frames 1 is moved to its workingor pressing position between pattern plates 5 so that the latter can be introduced into the frame without jamming. Pattern plates 5 are pushed into frame 1 until a closed chamber or a cavity is formed by the frame and two plates and charged with a mould-forming material fed from sand-blowing container 8. By drawing pattern plates 5 gradually together the mould-forming material is subjected to the pressing operation and on their retrieval the patterns are withdrawn with the completed mould remaining in the frame.

After sand gate 9 has opened to fill the sand-blowing container with a new batch of mould-forming material the compacting mechanism is ready for the next operating cycle.

As drive 4 is actuated, face-plate 2 of the turning mill table turns for a step to push the frame together with the formed mould from the compacting mechanism to the first position or station in which core insertion can be performed. When the drive is actuated for the second time, the mould is shifted for the next step being placed in the second core insertion position.

After the third step the frame together with the completed mould is delivered to the pusher whose plate 11 pushes the mould to conveyor 10. Where a faulty mould has been discovered hydraulic cylinder 12 is not actuated and after face-plate 2 has revolved for the next step the mould is pushed to extra pusher 14 which ejects it from the frame.

As it is seen from the description of the plant operation a minimum number of three steps performed by face-plate 2 of table 3 in delivering the frames from the compacting mechanism to the pusher necessitates the use of at least two core insertion stations which enables a substantial increase in the admissible core setting time. This in turn caner sure a 2-3-foldjncrease irlprg ductivity of the plants for producing casting moulds with a large number of cores.

What is claimed is:

l. A plant for manufacturing and assembling flaskless foundry moulds, comprising: a'turntable with a faceplate; drive means for stepwise circular movement of said faceplate; a plurality of frames rigidly fixed on said faceplate to move together therewith; reciprocating means rigidly disposed on said machine and having two pattern plates affixed thereto so as to define a compacting gap of said reciprocating means between said two pattern plates thereof, said frames being successively inserted into said gap during the stepwise movement of said faceplate, so that during reciprocation motion of said reciprocating means, said pattern plates move together to compact a moulding material disposed in succeeding ones of said frames to form a two faced mould, and move apart to allow extraction thereof; pusher means for ejecting formed molds from said frames, said pusher means being disposed at an angle along the circle of rotation of said faceplate relative to said reciprocating means so that as succeeding ones of said frames move from a position at said compacting gap to a position at said pusher means, said faceplate performs at least three steps of rotation; a conveyor means disposed coaxially with said pusher means to receive said formed molds which are assembled together thereon to form a horizontal stack so that said formed molds are in tight contact with one another.

2. A plant as claimed in claim 1, which has an additional pusher means disposed at an angle to the axis of said conveyor means coaxially with one of said frames to extract faulty moulds therefrom. 

1. A plant for manufacturing and assembling flaskless foundry moulds, comprising: a turntable with a faceplate; drive means for stepwise circular movement of said faceplate; a plurality of frames rigidly fixed on said faceplate to move together therewith; reciprocating means rigidly disposed on said machine and having two pattern plates affixed thereto so as to define a compacting gap of said reciprocating means between said two pattern plates thereof, said frames being successively inserted into said gap during the stepwise movement of said faceplate, so that during reciprocation motion of said reciprocating means, said pattern plates move together to compact a moulding material disposed in succeeding ones of said frames to form a two faced mould, and move apart to allow extraction thereof; pusher means for ejecting formed molds from said frames, said pusher means being disposed at an angle along the circle of rotation of said faceplate relative to said reciprocating means so that as succeeding ones of said frames move from a position at said compacting gap to a position at said pusher means, sAid faceplate performs at least three steps of rotation; a conveyor means disposed coaxially with said pusher means to receive said formed molds which are assembled together thereon to form a horizontal stack so that said formed molds are in tight contact with one another.
 2. A plant as claimed in claim 1, which has an additional pusher means disposed at an angle to the axis of said conveyor means coaxially with one of said frames to extract faulty moulds therefrom. 